The present invention relates to a toy for children to use in a sandbox, on a sandy beach, with a pile of dirt, or with a quantity of particles of any material. It has long been common for children to play in sand or dirt using shovels, scoops, spoons, or other utensils to dig the sand or dirt and pour the sand or dirt back in a different location or in a pattern or a mound or into a bucket or the like. Further, children often express their creativity by developing imagined roads, structures and patterns in the sand or dirt with the available utensils.
An object of the present invention is to provide a unique toy for children to use while playing in or with sand, dirt or other particulate material (hereinafter collectively and separately referred to as xe2x80x9csandxe2x80x9d for convenience) for their entertainment and for stimulating creativity. Specifically, the toy of the present invention comprises a portable device, such as a hand-held scoop or a movable hopper, having a surface with openings of a predetermined pattern and size for passing sand therethrough and a selectively operable vibrator portion for causing vibration of at least that surface of the device to cause the sand to pass through the openings. Still further, it is contemplated by this invention that a variety of different patterns of openings may be provided in the surface by using replaceable scoop portions or replaceable templates in the scoop portion or hopper having the variety of predetermined patterns.